diff --git a/work/meshai/env/nws.py b/work/meshai/env/nws.py
index 6d46efd..935859f 100644
--- a/work/meshai/env/nws.py
+++ b/work/meshai/env/nws.py
@@ -269,11 +269,21 @@ class NWSAlertsAdapter:
             }
 
             # Attach the RAW GeoJSON alert geometry (Polygon / MultiPolygon /
-            # None) to the event. This is the authoritative field the pipeline
-            # coverage gate intersects against configured areas. Zone-only NWS
-            # alerts have geometry=None; the fail-closed gate drops those.
+            # None) — the authoritative field the coverage gate intersects
+            # against configured areas. Zone-only NWS alerts have geometry=None;
+            # resolve those from affectedZones (cached zone shapes) so
+            # in-coverage zone alerts get placed + region-tagged instead of
+            # dropped by the fail-closed gate.
             geom = feature.get("geometry")
+            if geom is None:
+                zurls = props.get("affectedZones") or []
+                if zurls:
+                    from meshai.env.nws_zones import resolve_zones_geometry
+                    resolved = resolve_zones_geometry(zurls)
+                    if resolved:
+                        geom = resolved
             event["geometry"] = geom
+            event["affected_zones"] = props.get("affectedZones", [])
 
             # Compute a best-effort centroid (fallback / nice-to-have; the
             # geometry above is authoritative). Handle Polygon and MultiPolygon.
@@ -293,6 +303,18 @@ class NWSAlertsAdapter:
                         lon_sum = sum(c[0] for c in ring)
                         event["lat"] = lat_sum / len(ring)
                         event["lon"] = lon_sum / len(ring)
+                    elif geom.get("type") == "MultiPolygon" and coords:
+                        # Average all outer-ring vertices across all polygons
+                        all_lats: list[float] = []
+                        all_lons: list[float] = []
+                        for poly_coords in coords:
+                            if poly_coords:
+                                ring = poly_coords[0]
+                                all_lats.extend(c[1] for c in ring)
+                                all_lons.extend(c[0] for c in ring)
+                        if all_lats:
+                            event["lat"] = sum(all_lats) / len(all_lats)
+                            event["lon"] = sum(all_lons) / len(all_lons)
                 except Exception:
                     pass
 
diff --git a/work/meshai/env/nws_zones.py b/work/meshai/env/nws_zones.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..173251a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/work/meshai/env/nws_zones.py
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+"""NWS zone-geometry resolver with persistent SQLite cache.
+
+Zones at api.weather.gov/zones/* are static (published zone boundaries that
+change only when NWS redraws them — rare, O(years)).  We cache resolved
+geometries in the shared meshai DB so repeated polls for the same alert don't
+hit the NWS API on every tick.  A process-level in-memory dict provides a
+hot-path shortcut inside a single run.
+
+Public API
+----------
+    resolve_zones_geometry(zone_urls) -> dict | None
+        Combine a list of NWS zone URLs into ONE GeoJSON MultiPolygon.
+
+Internal helper exposed for monkeypatching in tests
+----------------------------------------------------
+    _fetch_zone(url) -> dict | None
+        Single-zone HTTP fetch.  Factor it out so tests can inject geometry
+        without touching the network at all.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import logging
+import time
+from typing import Optional
+from urllib.error import HTTPError, URLError
+from urllib.request import Request, urlopen
+
+from meshai.persistence import get_db
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# In-memory hot cache: url -> geometry dict or None
+# (None = confirmed "this zone has no geometry"; still authoritative.)
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+_mem_cache: dict[str, Optional[dict]] = {}
+
+_NWS_USER_AGENT = "(meshai, ops@echo6.co)"
+_FETCH_TIMEOUT = 8  # seconds
+
+_CREATE_TABLE_SQL = """
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS nws_zone_cache (
+    url          TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+    geometry_json TEXT,
+    fetched_at   REAL
+)
+"""
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Internal helpers
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def _ensure_table(conn) -> None:
+    """Create the cache table if it doesn't already exist (idempotent)."""
+    conn.execute(_CREATE_TABLE_SQL)
+
+
+def _fetch_zone(url: str) -> Optional[dict]:
+    """Fetch a single NWS zone URL and return its .geometry (or None).
+
+    This function is intentionally thin so tests can monkeypatch it without
+    needing to stub urllib internals.  Any network/parse error returns None
+    and is logged at DEBUG level (not ERROR — zone miss is non-fatal).
+    """
+    req = Request(
+        url,
+        headers={
+            "User-Agent": _NWS_USER_AGENT,
+            "Accept": "application/geo+json",
+        },
+    )
+    try:
+        with urlopen(req, timeout=_FETCH_TIMEOUT) as resp:
+            data = json.loads(resp.read().decode("utf-8"))
+        return data.get("geometry")  # may legitimately be None
+    except (HTTPError, URLError, OSError) as exc:
+        logger.debug("nws_zones: fetch failed for %s: %s", url, exc)
+        return None
+    except Exception as exc:
+        logger.debug("nws_zones: unexpected error fetching %s: %s", url, exc)
+        return None
+
+
+def _load_cached(conn, url: str) -> tuple[bool, Optional[dict]]:
+    """Return (cache_hit, geometry).  geometry may be None for known-null zones."""
+    _ensure_table(conn)
+    row = conn.execute(
+        "SELECT geometry_json FROM nws_zone_cache WHERE url = ?",
+        (url,),
+    ).fetchone()
+    if row is None:
+        return False, None
+    raw_json = row[0]
+    if raw_json is None:
+        return True, None  # cached null marker — zone has no geometry
+    try:
+        return True, json.loads(raw_json)
+    except Exception:
+        return True, None  # corrupt cache row — treat as null
+
+
+def _store_cached(conn, url: str, geometry: Optional[dict]) -> None:
+    """Persist a resolved geometry (or a null marker) for the given URL."""
+    _ensure_table(conn)
+    raw_json = json.dumps(geometry) if geometry is not None else None
+    conn.execute(
+        "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO nws_zone_cache(url, geometry_json, fetched_at)"
+        " VALUES(?, ?, ?)",
+        (url, raw_json, time.time()),
+    )
+
+
+def _get_zone_geometry(url: str) -> Optional[dict]:
+    """Return the GeoJSON geometry for a single zone URL (multi-level cached).
+
+    Resolution order:
+        1. In-memory dict (hot path, no I/O)
+        2. SQLite nws_zone_cache table
+        3. HTTP fetch via NWS API → write-through to both caches
+    """
+    # 1. In-memory hit
+    if url in _mem_cache:
+        return _mem_cache[url]
+
+    # 2. Persistent cache
+    conn = get_db()
+    found, geom = _load_cached(conn, url)
+    if found:
+        _mem_cache[url] = geom
+        return geom
+
+    # 3. Fetch from NWS (delegates to _fetch_zone — monkeypatchable)
+    geom = _fetch_zone(url)
+    _mem_cache[url] = geom
+    _store_cached(conn, url, geom)
+    return geom
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Public API
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def resolve_zones_geometry(zone_urls: list) -> Optional[dict]:
+    """Resolve a list of NWS zone URLs to ONE combined GeoJSON MultiPolygon.
+
+    Fetches each zone's geometry (cached persistently — zones are static), and
+    concatenates every zone's polygon(s) into a single MultiPolygon.  Returns
+    None when the list is empty or NONE of the zones resolve (caller then keeps
+    the alert's geometry as None → existing fail-closed behaviour).
+    Fully resilient: any per-zone fetch/parse error skips that zone.
+
+    Combination rules
+    -----------------
+    - Polygon  → its single coordinate ring-list appended as one MP entry
+    - MultiPolygon → each of its coordinate ring-lists appended as MP entries
+    - Anything else (e.g. Point, GeometryCollection) → skipped
+    """
+    if not zone_urls:
+        return None
+
+    combined: list = []
+    for url in zone_urls:
+        try:
+            geom = _get_zone_geometry(url)
+            if not geom:
+                continue
+            gtype = geom.get("type")
+            coords = geom.get("coordinates")
+            if not coords:
+                continue
+            if gtype == "Polygon":
+                # A Polygon's coordinates is [outer_ring, *holes].
+                # In a MultiPolygon each entry IS [outer_ring, *holes].
+                combined.append(coords)
+            elif gtype == "MultiPolygon":
+                # A MultiPolygon's coordinates is [[ring_list], [ring_list], …]
+                combined.extend(coords)
+            # Unsupported geometry type → skip silently
+        except Exception as exc:
+            logger.debug("nws_zones: error resolving zone %s: %s", url, exc)
+
+    if not combined:
+        return None
+
+    return {"type": "MultiPolygon", "coordinates": combined}
diff --git a/work/tests/test_nws_zones.py b/work/tests/test_nws_zones.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..753172b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/work/tests/test_nws_zones.py
@@ -0,0 +1,372 @@
+"""Tests for meshai.env.nws_zones — network-free, cache-verified.
+
+All tests monkeypatch `meshai.env.nws_zones._fetch_zone` so no HTTP calls
+are ever made.  The persistent SQLite cache uses the per-test temp DB that
+`conftest._isolate_meshai_db` (autouse) sets up automatically.
+
+The process-level in-memory cache (_mem_cache) is cleared by the
+`_clear_zone_mem_cache` fixture (autouse within this module) so tests are
+independent of execution order.
+"""
+
+import io
+import json
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+import pytest
+
+import meshai.env.nws_zones as nws_zones
+from meshai.env.nws_zones import resolve_zones_geometry
+from meshai.persistence import get_db
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Module-local autouse: clear the in-memory hot cache around every test
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _clear_zone_mem_cache():
+    """Ensure the module-level _mem_cache is empty before and after each test."""
+    nws_zones._mem_cache.clear()
+    yield
+    nws_zones._mem_cache.clear()
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Helpers
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def _polygon(ring):
+    """Build a minimal GeoJSON Polygon geometry from a single outer ring."""
+    return {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [ring]}
+
+
+def _multipolygon(rings):
+    """Build a GeoJSON MultiPolygon from a list of outer rings."""
+    return {"type": "MultiPolygon", "coordinates": [[r] for r in rings]}
+
+
+# Sample rings (lon, lat order as per GeoJSON)
+RING_A = [[-116.5, 42.5], [-116.0, 42.5], [-116.0, 43.0], [-116.5, 43.0], [-116.5, 42.5]]
+RING_B = [[-115.5, 43.0], [-115.0, 43.0], [-115.0, 43.5], [-115.5, 43.5], [-115.5, 43.0]]
+RING_C = [[-114.5, 42.0], [-114.0, 42.0], [-114.0, 42.5], [-114.5, 42.5], [-114.5, 42.0]]
+RING_D = [[-113.5, 41.5], [-113.0, 41.5], [-113.0, 42.0], [-113.5, 42.0], [-113.5, 41.5]]
+
+URL_A = "https://api.weather.gov/zones/fire/IDZ001"
+URL_B = "https://api.weather.gov/zones/fire/IDZ002"
+URL_C = "https://api.weather.gov/zones/fire/IDZ003"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 1. Two Polygon zones → combined MultiPolygon with both polygons' coordinates
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_two_polygon_zones_combine(monkeypatch):
+    """Two Polygon zones produce a MultiPolygon with both polygons."""
+    geoms = {
+        URL_A: _polygon(RING_A),
+        URL_B: _polygon(RING_B),
+    }
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", lambda url: geoms.get(url))
+
+    result = resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A, URL_B])
+
+    assert result is not None
+    assert result["type"] == "MultiPolygon"
+    coords = result["coordinates"]
+    assert len(coords) == 2
+    # Each entry in a MultiPolygon is [outer_ring, *holes] — a list of rings.
+    assert coords[0] == [RING_A]
+    assert coords[1] == [RING_B]
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 2. Polygon + MultiPolygon → all rings folded into one MultiPolygon
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_polygon_and_multipolygon_combine(monkeypatch):
+    """A Polygon zone and a MultiPolygon zone are concatenated correctly."""
+    geoms = {
+        URL_A: _polygon(RING_A),
+        URL_B: _multipolygon([RING_B, RING_C]),  # 2-polygon MultiPolygon
+    }
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", lambda url: geoms.get(url))
+
+    result = resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A, URL_B])
+
+    assert result is not None
+    assert result["type"] == "MultiPolygon"
+    coords = result["coordinates"]
+    # RING_A from Polygon → 1 entry; RING_B and RING_C from MultiPolygon → 2
+    assert len(coords) == 3
+    assert coords[0] == [RING_A]
+    assert coords[1] == [RING_B]
+    assert coords[2] == [RING_C]
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 3. Cache hit: fetcher is NOT called again for a URL already resolved
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_cache_hit_no_refetch(monkeypatch):
+    """Once a zone is cached, _fetch_zone is not called again for that URL."""
+    call_count = {"n": 0}
+
+    def fake_fetch(url):
+        call_count["n"] += 1
+        return _polygon(RING_A)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", fake_fetch)
+
+    # First call → cache miss → fetcher invoked
+    r1 = resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A])
+    assert r1 is not None
+    assert call_count["n"] == 1
+
+    # Clear only the in-memory cache to force SQLite lookup path
+    nws_zones._mem_cache.clear()
+
+    # Second call → SQLite cache hit → fetcher NOT called again
+    r2 = resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A])
+    assert r2 is not None
+    assert call_count["n"] == 1, (
+        f"_fetch_zone called {call_count['n']} times; expected exactly 1"
+    )
+    assert r2["type"] == "MultiPolygon"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 4. All zones fail / return None → resolve_zones_geometry returns None
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_all_zones_fail_returns_none(monkeypatch):
+    """When every zone fetch fails, the resolver returns None."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", lambda url: None)
+
+    result = resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A, URL_B])
+    assert result is None
+
+
+def test_all_zones_none_geometry_returns_none(monkeypatch):
+    """Zones that exist but have no geometry also yield None."""
+    # Simulate NWS returning {geometry: null} for every zone
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", lambda url: None)
+
+    result = resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A])
+    assert result is None
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 5. Empty list → None immediately (no fetch, no DB)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_empty_zone_list_returns_none(monkeypatch):
+    """An empty zone list returns None without touching the fetcher."""
+    called = {"n": 0}
+
+    def fake_fetch(url):
+        called["n"] += 1
+        return _polygon(RING_A)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", fake_fetch)
+
+    result = resolve_zones_geometry([])
+    assert result is None
+    assert called["n"] == 0
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 6. Null-marker caching: a zone with no geometry is cached as NULL so we
+#    don't refetch it on the next call.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_null_geometry_zone_cached(monkeypatch):
+    """A zone that resolves to None is stored as NULL; not re-fetched."""
+    call_count = {"n": 0}
+
+    def fake_fetch(url):
+        call_count["n"] += 1
+        return None  # zone exists but has no geometry
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", fake_fetch)
+
+    # First call: fetch + cache null
+    resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A])
+    assert call_count["n"] == 1
+
+    # Evict in-memory cache to force SQLite path
+    nws_zones._mem_cache.clear()
+
+    # Second call: hit SQLite null marker — should NOT re-fetch
+    resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A])
+    assert call_count["n"] == 1, "null-marker zone was re-fetched (should be cached)"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 7. SQLite table is created on first use (idempotent CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_db_table_created(monkeypatch):
+    """The nws_zone_cache table is auto-created on first call."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", lambda url: _polygon(RING_A))
+
+    resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A])
+
+    conn = get_db()
+    row = conn.execute(
+        "SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='nws_zone_cache'"
+    ).fetchone()
+    assert row is not None, "nws_zone_cache table was not created"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 8. Partial failure: one zone fails, others succeed → partial MultiPolygon
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_partial_zone_failure_skipped(monkeypatch):
+    """A failing zone is skipped; the resolver still combines the rest."""
+    geoms = {
+        URL_A: _polygon(RING_A),
+        URL_B: None,  # this one fails
+        URL_C: _polygon(RING_C),
+    }
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", lambda url: geoms.get(url))
+
+    result = resolve_zones_geometry([URL_A, URL_B, URL_C])
+    assert result is not None
+    assert result["type"] == "MultiPolygon"
+    assert len(result["coordinates"]) == 2
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# 9. (Optional) NWS _fetch parse path: zone-only feature → event has geometry
+#    Tests the wiring in nws.py without hitting any network.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_nws_parse_zone_only_alert_gets_geometry(monkeypatch):
+    """A feature with geometry=null + affectedZones produces an event with
+    a non-None geometry after zone resolution (exercises the nws.py wire-up)."""
+    import json as _json
+    from io import BytesIO
+    from unittest.mock import patch
+
+    # Fake zone returns a simple polygon
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", lambda url: _polygon(RING_A))
+
+    # Build a minimal NWS API response with geometry=null
+    fake_response_body = _json.dumps({
+        "features": [
+            {
+                "geometry": None,
+                "properties": {
+                    "id": "urn:oid:test.zone.only.001",
+                    "event": "Red Flag Warning",
+                    "severity": "Severe",
+                    "headline": "Red Flag Warning for Owyhee Mountains",
+                    "description": "Dry and windy conditions expected.",
+                    "onset": "2026-07-08T14:00:00Z",
+                    "expires": "2026-07-08T22:00:00Z",
+                    "areaDesc": "Owyhee Mountains",
+                    "geocode": {"UGC": ["IDZ423"]},
+                    "affectedZones": [URL_A],
+                },
+            }
+        ]
+    }).encode()
+
+    class _FakeResp:
+        def read(self): return fake_response_body
+        def __enter__(self): return self
+        def __exit__(self, *a): pass
+
+    from meshai.env.nws import NWSAlertsAdapter
+
+    config = MagicMock()
+    config.areas = ["ID"]
+    config.user_agent = "(meshai-test, test@example.com)"
+    config.severity_min = "moderate"
+    config.tick_seconds = 60
+
+    adapter = NWSAlertsAdapter(config)
+
+    with patch("meshai.env.nws.urlopen", return_value=_FakeResp()):
+        adapter._fetch()
+
+    events = adapter.get_events()
+    assert len(events) == 1, f"Expected 1 event, got {len(events)}"
+
+    ev = events[0]
+    assert ev["geometry"] is not None, "zone-only alert has no geometry after resolution"
+    assert ev["geometry"]["type"] == "MultiPolygon"
+    assert ev["affected_zones"] == [URL_A]
+    # lat/lon should be computed from the resolved MultiPolygon
+    assert "lat" in ev, "lat not computed from resolved zone geometry"
+    assert "lon" in ev, "lon not computed from resolved zone geometry"
+
+
+def test_nws_parse_polygon_alert_unaffected(monkeypatch):
+    """An alert that already has a polygon geometry is NOT touched by zone resolution."""
+    # The fetcher should never be called for alerts that already have geometry
+    called = {"n": 0}
+
+    def should_not_be_called(url):
+        called["n"] += 1
+        return _polygon(RING_A)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(nws_zones, "_fetch_zone", should_not_be_called)
+
+    import json as _json
+    from unittest.mock import patch
+
+    polygon_geom = {
+        "type": "Polygon",
+        "coordinates": [RING_B],
+    }
+    fake_response_body = _json.dumps({
+        "features": [
+            {
+                "geometry": polygon_geom,
+                "properties": {
+                    "id": "urn:oid:test.polygon.001",
+                    "event": "Tornado Warning",
+                    "severity": "Extreme",
+                    "headline": "Tornado Warning",
+                    "description": "A tornado warning.",
+                    "onset": "2026-07-08T14:00:00Z",
+                    "expires": "2026-07-08T15:00:00Z",
+                    "areaDesc": "Ada County",
+                    "geocode": {"UGC": ["IDZ016"]},
+                    "affectedZones": [URL_B],
+                },
+            }
+        ]
+    }).encode()
+
+    class _FakeResp:
+        def read(self): return fake_response_body
+        def __enter__(self): return self
+        def __exit__(self, *a): pass
+
+    from meshai.env.nws import NWSAlertsAdapter
+
+    config = MagicMock()
+    config.areas = ["ID"]
+    config.user_agent = "(meshai-test, test@example.com)"
+    config.severity_min = "moderate"
+    config.tick_seconds = 60
+
+    adapter = NWSAlertsAdapter(config)
+
+    with patch("meshai.env.nws.urlopen", return_value=_FakeResp()):
+        adapter._fetch()
+
+    events = adapter.get_events()
+    assert len(events) == 1
+    ev = events[0]
+
+    # The original polygon geometry must be preserved as-is
+    assert ev["geometry"] == polygon_geom
+    # Zone fetcher must NOT have been called
+    assert called["n"] == 0, (
+        "_fetch_zone was called even though alert already had polygon geometry"
+    )